Fishing line float



Oct. 30, 1962 SCHMIDT 3,060,621

FISHING LINE FLOAT Original Filed April 2, 1953 1 N VEN TOR. Lad'nq'ySchmidt.

ATTD RN EYS United States Patent 3,060,621 FISHING LIVE FLOAT LudwigSchmidt, Master Products Co., Montague, Mich. Continuation ofapplication Ser. No. 346,385, Apr. 2, 1953. This application Oct. 23,1956, Ser. No. 618,167 2 Claims. (Cl. 43-4435) This application is acontinuation of my copending application Serial No. 346,385, filed April2, 1953, and now abandoned.

This invention relates to floats for fishing lines, and in particular afloat in which positive line holding means is provided at both ends ofthe float and in which the holding means includes a spring actuatedplunger for urging the fishing line into a hook or hooks projecting fromthe float.

With the fishing line held at both ends of a float a double lock isprovided, thereby substantially eliminating slippage and at the sametime preventing turning of the float in the water as an angler reels inthe line. With a line secured to a float at one point only as in aconventional float the float turns through an angle of 90 when the lineis pulled thereby causing wear on the line.

The purpose of this invention is to provide friction holding means,incorporated in a fishing line float or bob wherein a fishing line ispositively held at both sides of the float and sliding movement of theline in relation to the float is prevented.

With conventional types of floats, a fishing line passes through eyes,coiled spring wires or other friction holding means and with clampingmeans of this type it is difficult to prevent slipping of the float onthe line. With this thought in mind, this invention contemplates a floatin the form of a substantially hollow ball with a rod having hooks onthe ends slidably mounted in and extended from opposite sides of theball, and a spring actuated plunger slidably mounted in one side of theball and positioned around the rod whereby with a line held by a hook onone end of the rod the plunger urges the line against a hook on theopposite end.

The object of this invention, is therefore, to provide means forfrictionally holding a fishing line on both sides of a float wherein thepostion of the float on the line is manually adjustable.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved connection forretaining a float on a fishing line wherein the float remains inposition on the line until it is actuated manually to move the line onthe float.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved means forfrictionally holding a fishing line at both side of a float in which theholding means is of a simple and economical construction.

With these and other objects and advantages in view, the inventionembodies a substantially hollow member having a passage extendedtherethrough with a rod having hooks on the ends and a. collarintermediate of the ends slidably mounted in the passage and with aplunger having a spring therein positioned in a cylinder formed with acounterbore at one end of the passage.

Other features and advantages of the invention will appear from thefollowing description taken in connection with the drawing, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view illustrating the position of thefloat in the water with a fishing line secured to the upper and lowerends thereof.

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view similar to that shown in FIG. 1showing the fishing line attached to one side of the float and with thesides of the float to which the fishing line is attached extendeddownwardly.

FIGURE 3 is a cross section taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 1 showing theconstruction of the float.

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FIGURE 4 is a detail showing a section through the upper part of thefloat, similar to that shown in FIG. 3, and showing the plunger inpartially depressed position.

FIGURE 5 is an elevational view, substantially similar to that shown inFIGS. 1 and 3 with parts broken away and showing the plunger completelycompressed Wherein the hooks at both ends of the float are free.

Referring now to the drawing wherein like reference characters denotecorresponding parts, the improved fishing line float of this inventionincludes a substantially hollow buoyant body 10 provided with aninternal post 16 extending diametrically through the body along an axisadapted to be disposed in an upright position when the body is buoyantlysupported. The post is formed with an axial passageway 15 extendingtherethrough, and one end portion of the passageway in the post isenlarged to form a cylindrical recess 18. A plunger 17 is formed with anouter portion 17 providing a surface for slidably engaging the surfaceof the recess 18 for reciprocating movement therein and an inner portion17" substantially coextensive longitudinally therewith is provided witha passageway 15 extending longitudinally therethrough. The passageway 15in the inner portion is in alignment with the passageway 15 in the post16. A line locking means such as a bar 11 extends slidably through thepassageways 15 and 15' and is bent over to form a hook 12 at one end anda hook 1 3 at its opposite end. In order to control the line lockingmeans to afford a double line lock, stop means are provided. Forexample, secured to the bar 11 intermediate its ends and positionedwithin the recess 18 between the bottom wall thereof and the inwardlydisposed end of the inner portion 17" of the plunger 17 is a collar orstop member 14 adapted to cooperate with the plunger 17 and bottom wallof the recess 18 to provide a lost motion means for successivelyexposing the hooks 12 and 13 as hereinafter described. A coil spring 19is seated at one end against the bottom wall of the recess 18 and at itsopposite end I in the space provided between the inner and outerportions of the plunger 17, whereby the plunger is biased outwardly inrelation to the float body 10 to tension the 7 bar 11.

trated as being round or in the form of a ball, the body thereof may beof any suitable shape. It will also be understood that the plunger maybe of any suitable shape or size.

In the design shown the end of the plunger 17 is provided with anopening 20 that is positioned to receive an extended end 21 of the hook12 and a similar opening 22 is provided at the opposite side of the bodyfor receiving the projection 23 of the hook 13.

With the parts arranged in this manner, a fishing line, as indicated bythe numeral 24, is threaded through the hooks preferably with the partsin the positions shown in FIG. 5 whereby the line is threaded throughthe hook 13 and with the rod or bar 11 drawn into the body, to theposition shown in FIG. 3, the line is gripped by the hook 13 while it isthreaded through the hook 12 and after passing through the book 12 theplunger 17 is released whereby the plunger grips the line in the hook12, as shown in FIG. 3.

The fishing line may readily be released from the hook at either side ofthe float by pressing the hook on one side inwardly until the hook atthe opposite side extends from the float and, as shown in FIG. 3, therod 11 is provided with a collar 14 that engages one end of the cylinder18 to limit the travel of the rod.

The space between the end of the cylinder 18 and the plunger 17 in whichthe collar 14 is interposed prescribes the limits of a lost motionconnection between the relatively axially telescoped parts provided bythe hollow ball 10 and the plunger 17 and the rod 11. Thus, when theplunger 17 is initially actuated by pushing the plunger 17 into therecess provided by the cylinder 18, the rod 11 moves concurrentlytherewith to expose the hook 13 on the end of the rod 11, whereupon thecollar 14 on the rod 11 engages the end of the cylinder 18 and furthermovement of the plunger 17 inwardly into the cylinder 18 produces amovement relative to the rod 11 to thereafter expose the hook 12.

With the parts arranged in this manner, the plunger may be pressedinwardly to release the fishing line or to adjust the position thereofand the plunger may also be depressed to facilitate threading the linethrough the float.

By this means a float may readily be attached to a fishing line andfrictionally held at both sides or at the top and bottom of the floatand by pressing the plunger 17 inwardly the line may be released fromeither side, for example, the side on which the plunger is positionedand by continuing the movement of the plunger the inner portion 17"engages a collar 14 whereby the hooks at the opposite side may also bemoved outwardly so that with the plunger depressed to the position shownin FIG. the line is released from the hooks at both sides of the float.

It will be understood that modifications, within the scope of theappended claims, may be made in the design and arrangement of the partswithout departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. A fishing line float comprising, a body having outer wall meansenclosing a space to provide the float with buoyancy, said body havingan internal post portion extending through the inside of said body on anaxis adapted to be positioned uprightly when the float is buoyantlysupported, said post having a through passageway formed therein havingopen ends at opposite sides of said body, one end of said passagewaybeing enlarged inside of said body to form a generally cylindricalrecess, a plunger reciprocably slidable in said cylindrical recess andhaving an axially extending through passageway formed therein, a coilspring in said recess having one end abutting said plunger and urgingsaid plunger outwardly of said body, bar means extending slidablythrough said passageway of said post and through said axially extendingpassageway of said plunger and having a hook formed on each end thereofengaged with said plunger and said body, respectively, and stop means onsaid bar means positioned within said cylindrical recess and beinglocated between the end of said recess and the adjacent end of saidplunger for successive engagement with said plunger and the post at theend of said recess to suecessively expose first one hook upon initialdepression of said plunger and then the other hook upon continueddepression of said plunger into the recess, said plunger having innerand outer portions of substantially coextensive longitudinal extent, theouter portion of said plunger providing a surface for slidably engagingthe wall of said recess, the inner portion of said plunger providingabutment means at said adjacent end of said plunger for engaging saidstop means and providing lateral support along a substantial length ofthe bar means.

2. A fishing float comprising buoyant means providing a pair oflongitudinally separable spring-loaded telescopically related partshaving a passage formed therein and extending longitudinallytherethrough on the axis of relative movement, one of said partscomprising a float body having a recess formed in one side thereof andforming a part of said passage, the other part comprising a plungerslidable in said recess, and bar means consisting of a wire form memberhaving laterally offset reversely bent end portions overlying the edgesof said parts at opposite ends of said passage to limit the separationof said parts, said edges of said parts having recess means formedtherein adjacent said passage receiving and seating corresponding offsetend portions of said wire form member, thereby to clamp a fishing lineinserted between said end portions and said edges, said parts beingselectively depressible against the spring bias to selectively shortensaid passage to a dimension less than the length of said wire formmember between said bent end portions, and stop means on said wire formmember and operatively interposed between said parts for successiveengagement with said parts whereupon first one of said hooks will beexposed upon initial depression of said parts and then the other of saidhooks will be exposed upon continued depression of said parts, saidplunger having inner and outer portions of substantially coextensivelongitudinal extent, the outer portion of said plunger providing asurface for slidably engaging the wall of said recess, the inner portionof said plunger providing rigid lateral support along a substantiallength of said wire form member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS575,674 Woodward Jan. 19, 1897 2,645,832 Lee July 21, 1953 2,670,560Matras Mar. 2, 1954 2,706,869 Shoenfelt Apr. 26, 1955 2,767,506 RobinsonOct. 23, 1956

